News » Marvel Movie Madness! Part 8: Blade II

Marvel Movie Madness! Part 8: Blade II

Was this sequel cut from the same cloth as the original?

by RT Staff | Thursday, May. 26 2011
141 comments
Enter Marvel Movie Madness, wherein Rotten Tomatoes watches all of the significant Marvel movies ever made. Full Marvel Movie Madness list here. Tune in! We give you our thoughts, and you give us yours.


Part 8: Blade II (2002, 59% @ 136 reviews)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Wesley Snipes, Ron Perlman, Kris Kristofferson, Norman Reedus

Alex: 2003: The year the comic book movie boom really got started. Spider-Man web-slung into theaters to declare superheroes the new king of summer, and Blade II marked the first time Marvel had produced a movie deserving of a sequel. In this outing, Blade relocates to Russia searching for his left for dead mentor, Whistler. At the same time, a mutant breed of vampires rises, forcing Blade to make uneasy alliances with enemies and new sidekicks.

This is, for better or worse, a Guillermo del Toro movie. Baroque sets and lots of colorful characters, creatures, and gross-out gore. Del Toro's style has only grown in popularity following Blade II but I prefer the original's spare style. Blade II is one big bouncy cartoon, and I frequently find that del Toro's passion and creativity exceeds his directorial intuition. I don't plan on revisiting this film ever but do find it marginally compelling to see a director put a personal stamp inside a mainstream superhero series.

Luke: Alright, I confess -- I couldn't handle any more of this movie after 30 minutes. The bad sunglasses, leather trenchcoats and crappy industrial beats were hurting my will to live. But I would pay to see a movie based on that Photoshopped image from a couple of years back in which Blade puts an end to Edward Cullen's miserable existence. Come on, IRS, cut Snipes a break so we can see this happen.


Tim: Listen, I've got nothing but love for Guillermo del Toro, but I have to agree with Alex. Blade II has a lot of things going for it in comparison to its predecessor -- the effects are better, the action is cranked to 11, and the makeup design is vivid and grotesque (the Reapers look like Nosferatu by way of Aliens). And there are some wonderful del Toro touches -- I loved the ninja-like vampires who invade Blade's workshop -- and a couple funny lines (Blade: "So you're human." Vampire attorney: "Barely. I'm a lawyer").But there's something missing this time -- it's not like Blade is the most effusive superhero on the block, but the first movie placed him in an intriguing milieu and let us fill in the blanks. Here, he's not as haunted, and therefore not quite as weighty. Add to that a couple of absurd plot twists, plot inconsistencies, and a non-starting romance, and what you're left with is a slicker, more cosmetically appealing movie that nonetheless fails to equal the gritty soulfulness of the first film.

Matt: This movie is a weird match of director and subject to me. I think del Toro's creativity is really hobbled here; he's got a real flair for blending horror and fantasy, but I don't think the Blade series the best place for that. Don't get me wrong - I really like this movie, I just think it's one of the weaker entries in del Toro's filmography. If Blade seems to feel like a dress rehearsal for The Matrix, then Blade II is definitely del Toro's dry run for Hellboy two years later. But this movie isn't bad, by any means. The action is well-staged, (it had better be, if you're going to cast Donnie Yen), and Snipes seems to have a sixth sense for striking photogenic martial arts poses no matter where the camera is placed. I should also add that watching these movies definitely makes me miss Action Hero Wesley Snipes.


Jeff: No, it isn't a bad movie -- in fact, I prefer it to the first installment, which I thought had some nifty ideas but was ultimately undone by Norrington's unsteady direction. Del Toro is simply a better director, and as a result, I thought Blade II felt much more assured -- the funny lines were legitimately funny, some of the action sequences were legitimately awesome, and the visuals, of course, benefited from del Toro's signature style. Like Luke, however, I started to feel fatigue set in after awhile, and I thought the whole thing went completely off the rails in the final act, with one overblown battle after the next. (Did anyone else feel like they'd slipped into a Three Stooges/vampire hybrid when Blade and Nomak broke out the wrestling moves?) If del Toro had cut 20 minutes, this would've been a much stronger film.

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Comments

Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee

Del Toro is one of the select few greats that's dabbled in the comic movie medium. Unfortunately Blade 2 has not held up so well. Still this has some of the strongest elements of the entire trilogy.

May 25 - 03:13 PM

Gordon Franklin Terry Sr

Gordon Terry

"Alan Smithee," now that's a familiar name . . . the ultimate Hollywood pseudonym.

BLADE II is the best!!!!!!! (fast-paced and a lot of GORE and Blood-spilling)

May 26 - 08:21 AM

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May 29 - 06:13 PM

King Crunk

King Crunk

Overall, I like this movie, but I agree that it is weaker than the first film, which is sad considering Del Toro made it.

May 25 - 03:22 PM

King Crunk

King Crunk

Oh, and get ready for pure suckage on Blade: Trinity, guys. The first two are at least fun and interesting; that flick is just boring and eye-rolling stupid.

May 25 - 03:22 PM

doomzdavo

Doomz Davo

Blade 2 was a great sequel. Dark, violent, and action packed. It was a satisfying follow-up to the original. The new breed of vampires were effectively creepy and the story was decent. It would've been nice to have Dr. Karen return to update the whole finding a cure subplot. But the story makes due. Glad Whistler returned. Just wish he had been given more to do.

May 25 - 03:28 PM

The.Watcher

The Watcher

Blade 3 pissed me off so much when they decided to kill him again.

May 25 - 04:53 PM

The.Watcher

The Watcher

I liked this one a whole lot more than the first, although the best Blade moment, for me, is still that nightclub scene in part 1. Del Toro is awesome, I love everything he's done (even Mimic), but, as with Mimic, I do agree that this is his weakest film.

May 25 - 03:54 PM

THEREWOLF

Markus Arbutina

Not a fan of this one at all. Don't like how they team up vampires with the vampire hunter.

May 25 - 04:40 PM

Bloody Mathias

Mathias N/A

I've always thought this was miles ahead of the original. 8/10.

May 25 - 05:56 PM

Frisby2007

Frisby 2007

This one I liked a lot more than the first one. Del Toro is a genius.

May 25 - 06:17 PM

Bigbrother

Big Brother

Del Toro is great, but he succumbed to hollywood sequalitis with this one. It was all flash and gimmicks and little of the first movies substance. I also agree with the articles comment that Blades mystery was killed in this one.

May 25 - 06:54 PM

Gigawatts

Kevan Brenay

I actually loved both the first and second blade films (and pretend the third one doesnt exist). I do think the second one is the best, Del Toro is simply a better director and the visual style is great!

May 25 - 07:33 PM

woundedmakers

Steven Bada

Why are THESE guys doing this Marvel Movie countdown again? Matt is the only one who has anything positive to say about the films thus far. Of course, Marvel has released PLENTY of turds-but it would have been nice to hear from some comic book film enthusiasts on each movie instead of a weightless paragraph from a couple of pretentious bloggers. If you're job is to review a film, and you cant get past the first 30 minutes of it-find a new job, dick. (and btw, I'm not sticking up for Blade 2-I barely remember it...but every day it's the same thoughtless complaints with these guys. Its grown quite irritating.)

May 25 - 08:18 PM

doomzdavo

Doomz Davo

I know what you mean. If we're gonna talk comic book movies. Let's TALK comic book movies.

May 25 - 08:25 PM

woundedmakers

Steven Bada

Exactly.

May 26 - 10:45 AM

Matanuki

Matanuki .

Yeah, when did the RT guys become Roeper and Ebert? lol

Jul 19 - 11:12 AM

Pammie B.

Pamela Bryant

I like Blade II better than the original Blade movie, even though I liked that one a lot. Yes, there were some characters in this movie that I didn't really care about and who were kind of cliche, but the visuals and the action made up for those short comings.
The new breed of vampire was awesome! I liked their mutations and how they were zombie like instead of like super models.
I thought the fight sequences were exciting. I like the editing of the movie; whatever the camera technique is that makes Blade and Nomak appear to weigh tons or are super strong always makes me smile, the same way it does in Ironman, when he lands in Afghanistan....Boom!!!
Visually Blade II was so appealing! The set was grand, the creatures were imaginative, the lighting was cool! The coat that Nomak was wearing was awesome!!
Blade II is one of those movies that when it comes on cable TV in reruns, I always find myself watching it no matter where it is in the story.

May 25 - 08:26 PM

Captain Terror

Captain Terror

In Guillermo's defense, I once heard him say that he wasn't interested in directing this at first. But then someone convinced him that if he ever wanted to be allowed to make Hellboy, he needed stuff like this on his resume.

And I agree with the previous comment. My third-grade book reports were better than what Luke offered here.

May 25 - 08:33 PM

Vortex&Vertigo

Joel Feliciano

Actually what happened was the studios said to Del Toro that they will allow him to do Hellboy if he did blade 2. The result is obvious he just played Blade 2 by the numbers and put all his heart on hellboy.

May 25 - 09:08 PM

truheart

Peter Williams

That sounds about right to me. You can tell from the moment that blade grabs the sunglasses that this movie wasn't going to be as intense as the original. Del Toro didn't want to do this movie and it shows. Did he even try to watch the original to get a fell for who Blade was? Why does every damn villain in this movie know martial arts? They had a few vampire doing martial arts in the first one, but nowhere near the amount they do here. I love Hellboy, but Blade II feels like a dry run for Hellboy. Del Toro started the downfall of the Blade franchise.

May 25 - 10:45 PM

TombstoneLawDog

Daniel Klein

Wasn't sure I was going to comment on this thread, but there's only so much effusive 'Hellboy' praise I can stand. The order of Del Toro's movies from high to low quality is Blade 2, Hellboy and then Hellboy 2 with the acknowledgement that Helllboy is thisclose to being as good as Blade 2.
Blade 2 had a better villain in Nomak (than Deacon Frost). Frost always came across to me as a whiney, wanna-be badass-- mostly because Stephen Dorf has the physical presence of Justin Bieber. There was pretty much *never* a point in the movie when I thought he was a realistic threat to Blade.
The fight scenes were better in part 2, also; the martial arts because of Donnie Yen and the super-brawl at the end because --unlike Frost-- Blade could actually get on the mat with Nomak.
Next, the special effects in Hellboy were a step *down* from Blade 2- the scenes from WWII with the red Curious George monkey were rediculously cheap-looking CG. They only marginally improved from there.
Finally, I've seen Hellboy a couple of times by now (I do LIKE the film), and I still can't remember how the hell he kills the big bad. It's THAT memorable to me. Hellboy is made on the personality and charisma of Ron Pearlman more than the direction of Del Toro. ...and the less said about the bloated, over-wrought I-just-got-lots-of-attention-for-Pans-Labyrinth-Bitch-so-I'm-gonna-spew-it-all-over-this-film Hellboy 2 the better.

May 26 - 06:43 AM

gridlock'd2

First Last

Yeah, Hellboy always seemed a bit empty to me. Blade 2 is a truimph.

May 26 - 08:43 AM

Cory B.

Cory B

Bloated? How, exactly? In terms of story and characters, Hellboy 2 was tighter than the first one! Plenty of fans of the original liked the sequel better. Can't say how Blade 2 fits in Del Toro's filmography because I haven't seen it, but it has high standards to live up to for it to be clearly better than the Hellboy movies.

May 26 - 10:41 AM

Odd E.

Odd Even

Gotta go with Tombstone on this one. For me its Blade 97%, Blade 2 98%, Hellboy 80%, Hellboy 2 85%. I wish they would have included the scene in Blade 2 where Blade and Nyssa Damaskinos got it on. They would have been a cool couple. Instead they decided to kill her off. Then we get the horribly awful Blade 3. It gets a 10% from me. There were a lot of deleted scenes and script ideas from Blade 2. I just mentioned the ending and love story changes but there was also the fact that Goyer wanted to use Morbius as a villain. Marvel had other plans with character which would result in a movie of his own. Almost 10 years later and that movie has yet to be announced. What's up Marvel?

May 26 - 11:44 AM

Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee

Both Mimic and Blade 2 are Del Toro's byproducts of Hollywood. The first Hellboy may tread that line at times, but it definitely has Del Toro's lovingly crafted stamp written all over it. With Hellboy 2, his seasoned experience pays off even more so. There's certainly a progression of craft between each film.

May 26 - 11:59 AM

The.Watcher

The Watcher

No guys, sorry - Blade 2 has nothing on Hellboy and certainly nothing on Hellboy 2, which is FAR superior to the first one. His best flick is still Pan's Labyrinth, though.

May 26 - 12:34 PM

Cory B.

Cory B

Agreed, Watcher.

May 26 - 04:47 PM

Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee

Yep, it's going to take one heck of a movie to outdo Pan's.

May 26 - 04:53 PM

ALgreen99

AL Green

I agree wit Tombstone

May 27 - 07:41 PM

Scott Love

Luke Simpson

Three words: Netflix. Instant. Tomorrow.

May 25 - 10:35 PM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

Movie was pretty bad. Not trying to be a troll here, but I'm not really a huge Del Toro fan. He's great with the visuals, but so-so in the story and character department, IMO.

May 25 - 10:43 PM

Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee

Any who says his characterizations in the Hellboy universe aren't spot on or that Pan's Labyrinth isn't a masterful piece of storytelling, doesn't know movies IMO.

May 25 - 11:15 PM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

Keep in mind that petty insults are the lowest form of argument. I think it's fine you think Hellboy's characters are "spot-on", and I think it's fine you think Pan's Labyrinth is "masterful". I think it's a good movie--not quite a masterpiece, but good. My opinion. Deal with it. Go take out your little frustrations somewhere else. Also... "Any who"? I think you meant to say "Anyone who". Just telling you.

May 26 - 09:02 AM

Bigbrother

Big Brother

That wasn't really a petty insult. If you're going to be that sensitive here you're going to be in trouble.

May 26 - 09:48 AM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

Unfounded? I never said it was a fact, dude. And to suggest that I "don't know movies" based on ONE comment is ignorant, and unreasonable. It's crazy logic, really. FYI, I had a look at some of your ratings. Strongly disagreed with some. Agreed with others. Do I think YOU have horrible taste based on a few dissenting opinions? Nope.

May 26 - 12:57 PM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

Unfounded? I never said it was a fact, dude. And to suggest that I "don't know movies" based on ONE comment is ignorant, and unreasonable. It's crazy logic, really. FYI, I had a look at some of your ratings. Strongly disagreed with some. Agreed with others. Do I think YOU have horrible taste based on a few dissenting opinions? Nope.

May 26 - 12:58 PM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

@BigBrother


I'm not overly-sensitive. I'm being quite reasonable, actually. It WAS a petty insult. I wasn't insulting him, or anybody else in my original comment. His was an immature attack. If my opinion was "unfounded" and "insulting", then his is doubly so. Being overly-sensitive is one thing, but if you can't be reasonable then get off the site.

May 26 - 01:16 PM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

Thanks I will :)

And what the heck do you expect, lol? That I'd nod and concede to your opinion that I don't know what a good movie is? Not likely. I accepted your opinion that Del Toro is some kind of god with grace and understanding. You, however, seem unable to accept my views on his talents (or lack-there-of :P). You're the one who can't handle it.

FYI, this is my first RT argument. Are you having as much fun as I am? :)

I am serious though...why don't you rate any good movies on this site? And I'm not being snide. I'm just asking..

May 26 - 01:35 PM

THEREWOLF

Markus Arbutina

Alan, you are all kinds of crazy as well as kinda a jerk. If you can't handle someone disliking movies that you like or having different opinions than you shouldn't post here.

May 26 - 07:07 PM

Bigbrother

Big Brother

He says its in his opinion that anyone who can't appreciate Pan doesn't know movies. It's his opinion in contrast to your own and IMO instead of getting offended by his opinion you could have tried to prove him wrong instead of stooping past his level with your own petty insults, just saying you're gonna hear a lot worse if u hang around any length of time.

May 26 - 07:36 PM

vashfanatic

Martha Boatright

"Spot on" to what? The comic books? The characters in Del Toro's Hellboy bear only a passing resemblance to those of the comic books. The movies are probably great, but I can't separate my knowledge of how much they butchered the comic books enough to enjoy them.

Pan's Labyrinth is genius, though.

May 26 - 02:55 PM

Linda B.

Linda Burke

Nice comment, Vash (or should I say, Mr. Humanoid Typhoon). Very insightful and intelligent.

May 26 - 03:08 PM

Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee

Spot on as in they're extremely likable and translate well to film. I'm not one to get so hung up on films being cannon with the comics so long as they're good. (*Inserts generic Trigun reference.)

May 26 - 03:50 PM

vashfanatic

Martha Boatright

I'll go with them being extremely likable, but I'm still not sure what you mean by "translate well to the big screen." Do you mean *work* really well on the big screen? Because, as I said, not much was translated. For a short list of some major differences: Hellboy shouldn't have a love interest (seriously, so ALL superheroes have to have them now?), Liz shouldn't be drugged-out and emotionless but rather a powerful heroine in her own right (or totally side-lined into a baby-maker in movie 2), and the B.R.P.D. shouldn't be a secret.

I mean, the visuals were amazing, and Del Toro did preserve the best bits of the first storyline to use in movie 1 (and had a solid original story of his own in movie 2), but the characters aren't the characters in Hellboy.

Oh, and the name is a now 9-year old alias that has become my internet persona. I was really big into "Trigun" my freshman year, not so much now that I'm all growed-up. But the name has stuck.

May 26 - 04:28 PM

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